The Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp (PAGCOR) reported total expenses of nearly PHP15.64 billion (US$266.7 million) for the first six months of 2024, marking a 26.8 percent increase from the previous year, according to a financial statement posted on its website on Monday.
Personnel services costs reached PHP9.28 billion in the first half of the year, up 28.1 percent from a year earlier. Maintenance and other operating expenses surged by 52.5 percent year-on-year, reaching PHP5.39 billion.
The increase in expenses coincided with higher revenues reported by the gaming regulator and operator during the period.
PAGCOR’s first-half gross revenues amounted to PHP51.76 billion, reflecting a 42.9 percent increase from the previous year. The regulator reported a net income of just under PHP6.57 billion for the first six months of 2024, representing a 121.5 percent rise from a year earlier.
Gaming operations contributed the majority of the agency’s revenues, totaling PHP45.39 billion. Of that amount, 45.5 percent, or PHP20.66 billion, came from electronically-delivered gaming sectors like “e-Bingo, e-Games, and bingo grantees,” according to PAGCOR.
Licensed commercial-sector casinos in the country generated PHP16.06 billion, accounting for about 35.4 percent of PAGCOR’s first-half revenues.
Earlier this month, PAGCOR announced that the Philippine gaming sector, including non-casino operations, produced gross gaming revenue (GGR) of just above PHP194.74 billion in the six months leading up to June 30, representing a 19.21 percent increase from the previous year.
On July 22, Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. announced that Philippine Offshore Gaming Operators (POGOs), now known as Internet Gaming Licensees (IGLs), would need to cease their operations in the country by year-end.
PAGCOR indicated that the decision to ban offshore gaming operators would “have a minimal impact on the Philippine gaming industry, as the segment accounts for less than 5 percent of [aggregate] GGR.”
PAGCOR continues to reiterate that the POGO ban will have minimal impact in the gaming industry. As local market online gaming continues to rise and contribute more, the regulator’s statement may as well be good enough to alleviate fears and uncertainties in the market.